Tag Archives: Clark Kent

So first off, I don’t really make my own costumes for anything. Normally they look really sad and get thrown away after the event. However, nothing says bitchin clothing like something you’ve made over the course of 8 months. However I don’t really have that time to do that, or the skills, or the drive. So for Comic-Con I decided to enlist the help of the internet to put together everything for me. Yeah thats right… the internet. Apparently through this magical piece of modern technology any costume piece auto-magically comes to me.

My first costume that I’m putting together, is all about this guy.

Superman !!!

Yeaaaaaah Superman! Hes been among my favorite super hero characters since I was very very little, and this would make me so happy to give homage to him at Comic-Con.

But lets take a step back here. While I really want to go as superman, I have a kryptonite of my own, TIGHTS. Fuck that noise. It takes someone who is REALLY dedicated to make that commitment at the gym and I just cant see myself doing it. Also, if possible, I want to get some additional wear out of what I buy for Comic-con. To solve this conundrum… enter Tom Welling.

Oh Tom Welling, you didn’t think you would be playing Clark Kent for the last decade, but you did! This year marks the last season of Smallville, however I’ve actually only started watching it recent months, but I have REALLY enjoyed it. The show, despite nerd/internet rage, is actually decent and fun, in a campy kind of way. As long as Lana Lang isn’t around (she has a terrible storyline). But anyway thats not what this is about! This is about me wanting to not wear spandex!

So Mr. Welling plays Clark Kent on the verge of becoming Superman and recently he has finally donned the famous “S” Shield, (it only took them 10 years :P), in the form of a more modern leather jacket. I’ve decided to go with this incarnation. It’s sleek, its recognizable, its awesome and most importantly it makes me look like a godamn badass. So there. Also, I think leather jackets rock and I TOTALLY will wear this all the time in addition to Comic-Con. And as I’ve mentioned before, anything can be acquired through the internet. So here is the jacket that I’ve ordered.

Pretty bitchin right? Hopefully it will arrive as awesome as I want it to be. That is the only downside of the internet. While I am getting this custom made for me, I will have no idea what it looks like or how it really fits until it is at my door. I’ve already got the other parts needed (its really simple stuff), so I should be all set once this comes in. It is going to be amazing and I can’t wait!

So, while most little girls liked to dress up as Disney princesses as a kid, I wanted to be Batman. Well, Batgirl, but you get the idea. I started cosing when I went to a few VERY small local cons when I was in highschool, but nothing too intense. That’s kind of my only con experience, going to these small venues with one main celebrity that the whole event was really based around. I went with friends and it was fun but it was never anything incredibly intense.

Now I just do stuff like this in my spare time. Dress up like Clark Kent and get my picture taken.

So naturally one of the things I am SUPER excited about is the idea of cosplay for SDCC. Its like prom, but for people like meeee(nerds)eeeeee! 😀 I get to wear a kick ass outfit that I am super proud of, that I have built/put together myself representing some of my favorite things in the nerd community. So I’ve been putting a lot of work into research these past few months, before we even had tickets. That’s just how excited I was. I really REALLY wanted to dress up!! Bare with me on my girlish moments…

I have made some very interesting discoveries as a result. Back when I was a kid cosing as Wonder Girl in jeans and a tee-shirt, it was about people throwing in representation for their favorite things. Of course there were folks who got super into it, but they were fewer and farther between, thought that may have just been because of the venues I was at. Often times when I went to con, it seemed like there was a big college costume party and the theme was “Awesome”.

This is no longer the case. It would seem that cosing has taken on a sense of professionally that border lines on ridiculous. And by ridiculous I mean SUPER AWESOME. People building full on body armor, spending years and (literally) thousands of dollars on the costumes that they build out of sheer love. It is so cool. But with SDCC being the red carpet event of the geeky year, it also means that we have to raise the bar for ourselves. As cool as it would be to get featured on a website as some of the coolest costumes there, my greater fear is to be ridiculed on the internet for doing it half assed.

I will not be a half asser! And with that declaration, here’s some of the work I’ve been putting in the past few months, leading into Comic-Con!

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So, the friends and I have been planning some group costumes and some separates, but I’ve got a breakdown of both group and non group stuff that I’ve been researching that I am super excited about. The biggest thing for me has been picking characters that I can balance quality and cost with. How can I make stuff look awesome/at a pro level on a small budget? I’m also not much of a seamstress, though I want to learn more. So since I can’t build something from the ground up, the past few months have been scouring the internet for base pieces that I can add little things to. I feel like I don’t need to spend thousands of dollars in order to put together something awesome. I have given myself a meek budget, which honestly I think creates more of a fun challenge.

As a result of cost though, I’ve been working with the idea of doing three mild to medium priced costumes and only one on the pricier side. For now they’re all conceptual, but as I start to gather everything I plan to post production photos and the like for all to see! 🙂 So lets dive right in!

Group Costume: ARCHER

So one of the best new animated shows of the past year, in my humble opinion, has been FX’s smash hit “Archer”. Created by Adam Reed (Frisky Dingo) it is the thrilling and epic tale of Sterling Archer, Codename Duchess, the most inept super spy you will ever meet. Accompanied by his “crack” team of office drones and his partner Lana, Archer works for one of the top spy agencies of the world, which also happens to be run by his overbearing mother, ex black ops agent Mallory Archer. If you’ve never checked out the show, I highly recommend it. Running on FX, it has recently just started its second season.

Its new, its hip, it’s all the rage! So that’s what we shall be cosing as this year. We’re thinking we would probably do this on the day of the Archer panel. I should clarify that one has not been announced yet, BUT there was one last year, so presumably with its great success there will be one again. Adam will be going as our “hero” Sterling Archer and Caitlin will be the lovely Malory Archer. I will be going as the auto-erotic asphyxiation enthusiast/secretary, Carol. Or Cheryl. Or Crystal. She changes her name to fit her mood. Also because no one ever remembers it.

The episode I’m choosing to model the cos after is “Diversity Hire”. Carol normally wears a skirt and shirt kind of ensemble, but in episodes where she becomes obsessed with people sleeping with her, she usually is wearing something that she can rip open pretty quickly.

These are the reference photos I have so far.

I will be the first to admit that these photos are not very good. lol. Please bear with me. Or watch the episode. Either/or shall suit you well dear readers.

Unlike the lovely but slutty lady in the photos, I do not plan on ripping off my top every five minutes, so in order to keep it slightly more simple, I have decided to go with a dress instead of the skirt and matching button down top. The hair should be easy enough, a simple but big bun. I’m hoping to find one of those old 90’s “Snap a Bun” things to add heightened volume and shape. Also I feel like one of those would be hilarious to own.

This is the base dress that I am planning to acquire.

It still has the buttons, so if I want to alter the outfit into a two piece then I am more than able to, but the crispness of the outfit and the boldness of the colors I think will be iconic enough, though fans of the show if you disagree, I would love to hear your opinions!

The other thing about a show like Archer is the iconic nature of the characters isn’t what they wear. It is the jokes they are associated with. Adding props or makeup additions seem to be a neat, cheap way to really accentuate a character. To make this outfit more recognizable, I want to add two major adjustments. For starters, I want to wear a series of “Hello my Name is” nametags with all of the names she comes up with on the show. Another one of my favorite aspects/jokes is Carol’s intense need to have people choke her all the time. Another little aspect that I thought would make the cos “pop” so to speak would be to have red hand marks around my neck to indicate a recent choking. I felt that would be something easy that would make the character shine through, not just the costume. But again, I don’t know. Fans of the show, what do you think? Too much?

Anyways, I will do another post later this week with the other three costume ideas. I would love to hear feedback on this one though for people who are familiar with the show! So far I think the concept is off to a pretty great start. Can’t wait to start putting it in action!